In 1967, a sociology professor at San Francisco State University who served five years for armed robbery started a program that has helped hundreds of formerly incarcerated individuals earn university degrees. Now, a grant from Berkeley-based nonprofit the Opportunity Institute could bring a similar program to Cal State Fullerton as early as next spring.

The program – called Project Rebound – was created by John Irwin to help former California prison system inmates graduate from San Francisco State with the skills and credentials needed to find employment and stay out of prison.

CSUF is making preparations to start a similar program on campus.

The undertaking is spearheaded by assistant professor of philosophy Brady Heiner. In March, the Opportunity Institute awarded the California State University system a $500,000 grant to fund the expansion of Project Rebound into seven other CSU schools.

The Office of the CSU Chancellor contributed $200,000 to the program as well, the majority of which will go to San Francisco State, Heiner said. San Francisco State will serve as the fiscal agent and coordinator of the statewide program. The grant from the Opportunity Institute will be split among the seven universities participating in Project Rebound’s expansion: CSUF, Sacramento State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly Pomona.

The seven participating campuses have received significant in-kind contributions, such as use of campus infrastructure and services from community-based organizations.

Heiner valued these contributions to the seven campuses at nearly $300,000.

The expansion of Project Rebound into seven CSU campuses will run for a pilot period of three years.

A 2014 report from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that 61 percent of the state’s inmates released in 2008 were either rearrested or re-incarcerated in the following three years. Employers are often hesitant to hire someone with a criminal background, and without steady employment – or any employment – reintegration into society becomes much more difficult.

A college education would provide both the paper credentials and the skills and expertise needed to lock down a job and do it well. But for many formerly incarcerated individuals, college isn’t an option. There’s the question of cost and secondary education requirements, and for many there isn’t enough awareness of the admissions process and how to navigate its tangle of deadlines, checklists and prerequisites.

“Currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, in addition to being perhaps the most stigmatized and dehumanized population in this country, have for decades been deterred from or explicitly denied the opportunity to pursue higher education,” Heiner said via email. “This effectively bars them from the transformative potential of higher education.”

“From the perspective of criminal justice reform, 99 percent of incarcerated people eventually return to the community,” Heiner said. “Why wouldn’t society want such folks to have avenues through which to reintegrate and remake themselves and have access to stable and meaningful employment?”

Participants in Project Rebound will not benefit from relaxed admissions criteria, Heiner explained. Rather, the program’s coordinators will guide them through the application process, help them obtain financial aid and fulfill the prerequisites required to matriculate.

The CSUF program hopes to enroll its first class of 10 to 15 students in the spring. It is Project Rebound’s goal to then help participants integrate into the CSUF community and find access to the university’s full range of resources and facilities.

CSUF has a tradition of opening doors to higher education for those who have historically lacked such opportunities — 54 percent of students graduating with bachelor’s degrees in May were the first in their families to do so.

“As an institution that embraces academic excellence and respects and supports diverse scholars and students from all backgrounds, California State University, Fullerton, looks forward to welcoming students who are seeking a second chance through higher education,” said CSUF President Mildred García in a statement.

The different perspectives and life experiences first-generation students bring to the university’s community have made it stronger and more vibrant, and Project Rebound would continue this tradition, Heiner said.

“It will enrich the university by embracing students with diverse backgrounds and life experiences who are eager to learn, expand their sense of possibility, and chart new paths for themselves, their families and communities,” he said.

Local advocacy groups have applauded CSUF’s efforts to bring Project Rebound to campus.

“Higher education has the ability to open up unlimited opportunities for anyone, so to have access to a program geared specifically for those who have previously been incarcerated has immense potential,” said Meghan Medlin, board chair of the Orange County Re-Entry Partnership (OCREP).

OCREP is a network of agencies, organizations and private companies in Orange County that connects recently released individuals with services such as legal aid, counseling, job training and substance abuse treatment.

Medlin called CSUF’s plans for Project Rebound “groundbreaking” for Orange County. “These individuals will now have access to formal education, from an esteemed local university no less, and will be able to apply for jobs that previously may have not been available to them,” she said.

Project Rebound is just one program in a recent nationwide effort to fight recidivism with post-release opportunities to return to school. For years, current and former inmates were barred from higher education. The Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 rendered anyone in federal or state prison ineligible for a Pell grant, even though less than 1 percent of Pell grants awarded in 1994 went to incarcerated recipients.

Last year, however, the U.S. Department of Education announced plans to create the Second Chance Pell pilot program, which would roll back the 1994 ruling and offer financial assistance to about 12,000 inmates scheduled for release within five years.

The Department of Education also pledged $5.7 million in grants earlier in 2015 to help juvenile offenders complete high school and enroll in two- and four-year colleges.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has made post-correctional education one of the focal points of her tenure. She introduced the inaugural National Reentry Week earlier this year and chairs the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a collection of 20 cooperating agencies that provide housing, medical services, child care and educational opportunities for recently released individuals.

“For far too many Americans, re-entry has become an all-but-impossible task because of what are known as collateral consequences,” Lynch wrote in a contributing piece for USA Today. “The civil sanctions and restrictions that are triggered by a criminal record and continue to penalize returning citizens long after they have paid their debt to society.”

The Common Application, which is used by hundreds of universities and colleges nationwide, added a question about applicants’ criminal records in 2006. The Clery Center for Security on Campus, an advocacy group founded by the parents of a Lehigh University student who was murdered on campus, supported the inquiry into applicants’ criminal backgrounds. Catherine Bath, executive director of the organization at the time, told USA Today in 2006, “It’s an idea whose time has come.” Bath said the question helps campus officials identify potential security risks.

“We’re not saying don’t admit felons, we’re saying just know that you have them on campus,” she said.

CSU and University of California campuses do not use the Common Application, and Toni Molle, director of public affairs for CSU, confirmed that CSU has not asked applicants about their criminal history in the past 20 years.

National Reentry Week

In April of this year, the U.S. Department of Justice created National Reentry Week to call attention to the challenges facing formerly incarcerated individuals. During the inaugural National Reentry Week, which ran from April 24-30, the Department of Justice organized workshops, job fairs and community meetings to connect formerly incarcerated individuals with service providers to find work, housing, healthcare and educational opportunities.

Lynch was one of the principal backers of National Reentry Week. She has pushed for more services to help formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society during her tenure as Attorney General.

“National Reentry Week highlights the many ways that the Department of Justice – and the entire Obama Administration – is working to tear down the barriers that stand between returning citizens and a meaningful second chance – leading to brighter futures, stronger communities, and a more just and equal nation for all,” Lynch said in a statement.

During National Reentry Week, the Department of Justice sponsored over 200 events in all 50 states to help formerly incarcerated individuals connect with service providers and prepare to reenter the workforce.

These events included career fairs, job interview simulations, graduation ceremonies and stakeholder meetings — gatherings of all parties affected by the reentry process, including public defenders, prosecutors and probation officers, as well as formerly incarcerated individuals themselves.

Lynch and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julían Castro toured the country during National Reentry Week, visiting a federal prison in Talladega, Ala., and hosting roundtable discussions in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Mobile, Ala.

Lynch delivered the closing remarks at the Mobile discussion.

“I am not just hopeful, but convinced,” she said, “that we are nearing the day when every American who leaves prison, our brothers and sisters, our fathers our mothers, will truly have an opportunity to come home.”

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